IP Library Granted Patent US 10,805,389
Granted Patent B2
US 10,805,389 · App. 15/992,342 · Granted Oct 13, 2020

System, method, and computer program for enabling a user to access and edit via a virtual drive objects synchronized to a plurality of synchronization clients

Inventors: Fuad Rashid (Foster City, CA); Michael Phillip Morford (San Ramon, CA); Eric Wayne Wagner (San Francisco, CA); James David Wong (San Jose, CA); Sing Yip (San Francisco, CA)
Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
H04L67/1095G06F3/048H04L67/00H04L67/10H04L67/42G06F3/00G06F16/00
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,805,389
App. No.
15/992,342
Granted
Oct 13, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

A system, method, and computer program for enabling a user to edit and access local and remote objects via a virtual drive, including objects synchronized to a plurality of synchronization clients. A virtual drive is displayed on the user's local client device with all objects, which a user has synchronized to a synchronization server. A user is able to access and edit any object displayed in the virtual drive. In response to detecting a change in an object in the virtual drive, the object is updated on the synchronization server. All remote clients of the user or of any other users who have access to the changed folder are identified and notified of the change. In response to the change being a change to content within the folder, the content of the folder is automatically updated on any identified remote clients that have a corresponding folder.

Claims (42)

1. A method, comprising:

providing, on a local client device associated with a first user, a display of a virtual drive that appears as a local storage drive of the local client device;

providing, within the display of the virtual drive, a plurality of items synchronized with a content management system, the plurality of items comprising:

locally stored items that are stored on the local storage drive of the local client device; and

remotely stored items that are stored in a remote storage location that does not reside on the local client device, wherein the locally stored items and remotely stored items are presented in the virtual drive without regard to a storage location of the locally stored items and the remotely stored items;

in response to detecting a user interaction with an item from the plurality of items within the display of the virtual drive, providing an option to set permission attributes associated with the item; and

in response to receiving an indication of a user selection of a permission attribute corresponding to the item based on the first user interacting with the option to set permission attributes, updating a remote client device associated with a second user to reflect the selected permission attribute of the item.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein there is no visual distinction between the locally stored items and the remotely stored items within the display of the virtual drive.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the permission attribute corresponding to the item defines a sharing permission for the item.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, based on a user interaction with a remotely stored item, adding the remotely stored item to the locally stored items by maintaining a local copy of the remotely stored item on the local storage drive of the local client device.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the permission attribute corresponding to the item defines an editing permission for the item.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the remote storage location is a synchronization server of a synchronization system.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising adding a shared item to the virtual drive based on a sharing user sharing the shared item with the first user associated with the local client device.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising storing the shared item on the local storage drive of the local client device as one of the locally stored items based on the first user associated with the local client device interacting with the shared item.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

detecting a modification of the shared item; and

providing a notification of the modification to a synchronization system, wherein the notification causes the synchronization system to update a copy of the shared item on one or more of a synchronization server or a client device associated with the sharing user.

10. A system, comprising:

at least one processor; and

a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:

provide, on a local client device associated with a first user, a display of a virtual drive that appears as a local storage drive of the local client device;

provide, within the display of the virtual drive, a plurality of items synchronized with a content management system, the plurality of items comprising:

locally stored items that are stored on the local storage drive of the local client device; and

remotely stored items that are stored in a remote storage location that does not reside on the local client device, wherein the locally stored items and remotely stored items are presented in the virtual drive without regard to a storage location of the locally stored items and the remotely stored items;

in response to detecting a user interaction with an item from the plurality of items within the display of the virtual drive, provide an option to set permission attributes associated with the item; and

in response to receiving an indication of a user selection of a permission attribute corresponding to the item based on the first user interacting with the option to set permission attributes, update a remote client device associated with a second user to reflect the selected permission attribute of the item.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein there is no visual distinction between the locally stored items and the remotely stored items within the display of the virtual drive.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the permission attribute corresponding to the item defines a sharing permission for the item.

13. The system of claim 10 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to, based on a user interaction with a remotely stored item, add the remotely stored item to the locally stored items within the virtual drive by maintaining a local copy of the remotely stored item on the local storage drive of the local client device.

14. The system of claim 10 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to add a shared item to the virtual drive based on a sharing user sharing the shared item with the first user associated with the local client device.

15. The system of claim 14 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to store the shared item on the local storage drive of the local client device as one of the locally stored items based on the first user associated with the local client device interacting with the shared item.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the permission attribute corresponding to the item defines an editing permission for the item.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, causes a computer device to:

provide, on a local client device associated with a first user, a display of a virtual drive that appears as a local storage drive of the local client device;

provide, within the display of the virtual drive, a plurality of items synchronized with a content management system, the plurality of items comprising:

locally stored items that are stored on the local storage drive of the local client device; and

remotely stored items that are stored in a remote storage location that does not reside on the local client device, wherein the locally stored items and remotely stored items are presented in the virtual drive without regard to a storage location of the locally stored items and the remotely stored items;

in response to detecting a user interaction with an item from the plurality of items within the display of the virtual drive, provide an option to set permission attributes associated with the item; and

in response to receiving an indication of a user selection of a permission attribute corresponding to the item based on the first user interacting with the option to set permission attributes, update a remote client device associated with a second user to reflect the selected permission attribute of the item.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the permission attribute corresponding to the item defines a sharing permission for the item.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the permission attribute corresponding to the item defines an editing permission for the item.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein there is no visual distinction between the locally stored items and the remotely stored items within the display of the virtual drive.

Assignments (5)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Dec 13, 2024
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DROPBOX, INC.
Reel/Frame 069635/0332 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Dec 12, 2024
From: DROPBOX, INC.
To: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 069604/0611 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Mar 10, 2021
From: DROPBOX, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 055670/0219 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 30, 2018
From: RASHID, FUAD; MORFORD, MICHAEL PHILLIP; WAGNER, ERIC WAYNE; WONG, JAMES DAVID; YIP, SING
To: SUGARSYNC, INC.
Reel/Frame 045932/0059 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 30, 2018
From: SUGARSYNC, INC.
To: DROPBOX, INC.
Reel/Frame 045932/0188 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 14873004 · Oct 1, 2015
Continuation 13571512 · Aug 10, 2012
Related Publication 20180278684A1 · Sep 27, 2018